Jack's Journey.

[Jack]

Hello,

Some pretty motivational training journals on here. Inspired to do the same.

I'm intending to join the army some time soon, and I need to get into shape. Not only that, but I've let myself go a bit in the past year and a half. So, what better way to keep me motivated than to have a journal to maintain.
I actually have an army 'insight course' booked for the end of April, which I want to get as fit as possible for.

General aims, Fat loss, Muscle definition & fitness.
My current objective is 1.5miles in under 9minutes. And to get my 2 minute maximum press-ups, Sit-ups and Pull-ups to the max.
I have yet to do any of the above targets(timed at least), so I don't have any current figures, but that shall be updated tomorrow. Though my 1.5 mile time is in the 13 minute ballpark, so just need to slash 4-5 minutes off that then (gulp!).

Okay, now where better to start, than the obligatory pic's (the ones that'll look so daft once we get to the 'after' pic's)

Fat level;



I'm no expert, but I'm guessing I'm sporting about 25-35% BF? Naturally, I want to knock that down to about 8-12%


Arm definition (I'm not focused on arms, I just didn't fancy taking too many pics, not good for moral n'all that, ha);



Pretty basic at the moment, but it's my base to start from.

I'll be updating pic's monthly to follow visual progress.

Obviously, being on the MyProtein forum I'm going to be using their products. Here is a list of the item's I'm planning to get once I have the dosh.

One's I intend for the basket:

L-Glutamine
Thermopure
CEE - Creatine Ethyl Ester
HMB
Instant Milk Protein
Impact Whey Protein
Dextrose
Omega 3
Alpha Men or Daily vitamins


Not sure about/need advice on:

Glucosamine Sulphate_
Ultra Fine Scottish Oats
BCAA Plus
Pulse
Advice I'm after on these really is just if they are worth getting?

Typical day plan (Food);

6AM - Wake up with a bowl of porridge (currently eating microwave pouch versions, but intend to move to proper oats ... once I've mastered how to prepare them whilst also keeping them edible!), a banana and a Whey protein shake.

10AM - 2x Toasted wholemeal bread and a can of tuna for filling.

1PM - Some form of fruit and another Whey protein shake.

5PM - Chicken breast & Veg. or more fruit.

7PM - Chicken breast and wholegrain rice (admitidely using Uncle bens micro-rice at the moment, once again, I'll move to proper wholegrain rice)

9-10PM - Milk Protein Shake

I tend to do my running at about 7-8AM (one day run, one day rest). My running will have me doing a 1.5 mile best effort once a week, and I'll probably ditch a usual run for 'fartleking', as was advised to me in another post.
Any other kind of training I tend to do between 12PM and 6PM.

. . . Crikey! That turned into a bit of a long post, sorry about that!

I'd love to get some input from you guys, invaluable advice I'm sure.

[Jack]

Been a bit under the weather today, and not eaten properly, so not much gas in the tank

Set 1;

2min of press-ups ~ 26 (press-ups taken slowly to meet the 2min time)
2min of sit-ups ~ 55 (horizontal to vertical sit-ups, again, taken slowly to meet 2min time)
Pull-ups (1) ~ 8 (shoulder width, palms facing me)
Pull-ups (2) ~ 4 (wide grip, palms facing away)

Set 2;

2min of press-ups ~ 20
2min of sit-ups ~ 30
Pull-ups (1) ~ 4
Pull-ups (2) ~ 3

Set 3;

2min of press-ups ~ 22
2min of sit-ups ~ 26
Pull-ups (1) ~ 5
Pull-ups (2) ~ 3

Piss poor workout

[MILKman]

Hey bud, best of luck in your goals. If you want to add some variation look into crossfit, if it takes your fancy I have a lot of CF journals your welcome too. Also some different circuits for body weight/ PT sort of training.

[Superhuman]

hey mate

hope all goes well with this

if you throw in some high intensity interval training this should help increase your fitness levels quite quicly - i used to do it for football and i bought an sas training book for some reason a while back and its strongly reccomended in that too.

[Jack]

Thanks for the support,

Excuse the ignorance, but what is crossfit? I did a google search, found this. Yet, after reading their 'what is crossfit' page, I'm still none the wiser.

Thanks for the advice Superhuman, I fully intend to make HIIT a corner stone of my regime. There is a stretch of the beach where I live that nicely measures to 200m, so I can do circuits along that for that extra bite in my cardio.

... Was going to do some cardio today, but feeling even worse than I did yesterday, so I'll do a double session tommorow if I'm feeling better.
Not a great start to my journal.

[MILKman]

RapidShare: Easy Filehosting

Check the FAQ section of the site, also check out navy seals WOD which incorporates more distance running.

I also have some Special Operations Forces training if your interested.

[Jack]

Ah, I see. Interesting. I'll see about trying their things soon. Thanks.

It would be interesting to see that SOF training you have.

[Jack]

1.5 mile ~ 12:10

[Danny]

Good stuff mate, keep up the good work.

Make sure you drink plenty of water throughout the day to keep cramp away from your legs.

[Jack]

Having some concerns at the moment. Pretty much every time I go for a run I have a bit of a sneezing fit afterwards, and for the rest of the day often end up with a runny/blocked nose.
I've come to the conclusion that it is something wrong with my sinuses. Though I'm trying to cut out milk incase I'm having some kind of reaction with that (replaced with rice milk).

Anyone else had a similar problem? I'm going to see a doctor to try and organise a consultation with a ENT (Ear, nose and throat) specialist.

I'll still continue running though.